Can you work a successful Real Estate business part-time? (RE agent, commission, Realtor)

[findingmesomeday]

I'm currently employed full time with a lower salary in exchange for a flexible schedule (vs. working in my field of specialty/education where I'd be traveling a lot and working 50+ hrs/week--now I work from home 3 days/week and it's generally a 35-40 hr week tops.)

I've been thinking about ways to increase my income. I have some opportunities to explore that would place me back into that high stress, VP level job with double my salary. Or, I thought I could take a RE course, get my license and start learning the RE business with the hope of transitioning full time, if my husband can find a job and we can get our finances in order. The pros are that if I can supplement my income, I can have *some* flexibility on the additional hours and with the goal of becoming a FT real estate professional eventually, I'd be able to hopefully jump in again when we move out of this area to another area (our goal...someday).

I am not a trained sales professional but I have a marketing background and I have done some sales. I've been exposed to some great sales training, too.

Is this business workable/income-producing on a part-time basis? Any thoughts on whether it's better to start off with a local office of a national company, such as Century 21 and who has the best training programs? Or is it better to start with a locally based company?

Thanks!

[palmcoasting]

It depends on how you define successful and what you expect out of it as an income.
I know people who are successful on the transactions they are a part of and supplement their income quite nicely for vacation money, new car money, etc. But they certainly aren't making a living at it.
Getting into real estate isn't free...you have expenses to start off and then to continue. Customers don't care if you have another job/profession and will be calling, emailing, etc, when they want to not when you would like for it to happen, and they're going to expect responses when they want them.
Can it be done? Sure. But you're going to have to taylor your expectations to the time and effort you are able to actually put into it.
By the way...changing from one area to another is not as easy as you think when you are in real estate. It's like starting from scratch.

[TexasHorseLady]

What palmcoasting said. Clients expect you to be available when they need you to be. It's tricky enough juggling the expectations of multiple clients, never mind adding an almost-full-time job to the mix. Plus there are the expenses - the first year or so it seems like everyone's standing there with their hand out, and little to no money is coming in for the first few months while you get established.

You need to think of being a real estate agent as starting a business, with all that entails, because that's really what it is. That will give you a better idea of the answer to your question.

[bentlebee]

I agree with the people before me but from the view from as a client. If I list my house with you, I understand you would have more listings to give the attention and do the work for, but I have a hard time paying full commission to some one who doens't have the time to give it a 100% because you have to deal with another job and a family. Everybody deserves free time and a family life, but not give it a 100% is okay if you tell your clients upfront and I'm not sure many people will like that. It isn't candy or a pair of shoes you are selling, this is about large amounts and takes more time and you can't tell a client who has no buyers agent to see the house in 3 days when you are done with your other job. It is also very annoying when a client calls and gets a voice mail over and over and has to wait for hours or days to get a call back.
I don't want to sound too harsh but IMO that is the reality that comes with the job and collecting a full commission, maybe you should work for a discount broker, because clients will expect less from them.
Good Luck with your decision.

[CAugust]

Doing it part time is hard, like everyone said, clients want to speak with you right away. The other side is that if a home is priced right, it can easily go within a few days, that being said, if you could not show a home for three days, you may easily lose that home to another buyer and your buyer would not be happy about it at all.

As far as working with a local company or well known firm, to me its about what the broker is going to provide to you? how much do you have to pay for advertising and copies etc etc??

As many have stated, you do need quite a bit of money to jump start your career, there are a lot of fees involved in becoming an agent and you have to be able to justify those fees going forward.

good luck with your decision

[palmcoasting]

Being in real estate doesn't mean you have to service everyone. She may not be a listing agent...or work only with select customers. But. She would need to get experience under her belt to do it properly. And that takes time and experience. That being said, if she were to highly specialize, it could be done. Again, moving that business to another location isn't going to be easy...it would be a do-over and new start.

It *can* be done. But it isn't easy. And it isn't cheap.

[Bazzwell]

I've yet to meet a part-time agent that really has any business. A few have a listing or two (usually some elderly aunt's house or a college friend), maybe a sale or two (usually....see the previous line), but eventually they leave to pursue "a real job". That's the problem....this is "a real job". It just doesn't act like one. Like in most fields, a part-time person never really learns the ins and outs of the craft and gets rewarded accordingly. A full-timer learns, gets practical field experience and can rise upward.

If nothing else, you need a certain level of sales just to make back the costs associated with being in the business. Most of the part-time folks that have come through our meat grinder have never recouped a single dime of their outlay. But hey, they have nice pens and boxes of business cards for souvenirs. Just being honest

[MikeJaquish]

There is so much confusion among consumers regarding full-time, full-service agency and dabblers. I thought it might be helpful to build a knowledge base to help folks differentiate between part-timers, and full-time agents.

10 indicators that your real estate agent may be a part-timer:

•1. If your agent is driving you around to view homes, and kids run up to buy ice cream every time you stop...You might be working with a part-timer.
•2. If your Buyer's Agency Agreement has an addendum for "Additional compensation for cell phone minutes above allotment,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•3. If your agent's business card also carries mention of video rental, saw blade sharpening, Quixtar, taxidermy, or tanning beds...You might be working with a part-timer.
•4. If your agent didn't get your email because the lines at the Wake County library computers were too long...You might be working with a part-timer.
•5. If your agent rushes you through a property viewing, because "lunch hour is almost over,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•6. If your agent can get through any traffic back-up by turning on the blue light and punching the siren...You might be working with a part-timer.
•7. If your agent doesn't do evening showings on school nights,"Because Mom freaks out about homework," ....You might be working with a part-timer.
•8. If you are viewing homes and your agent pulls over to pick up a fare, "To help with the gas bill,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•9. If your agent's HUGE ID tag is covering up "Cary Muffler Service" on his shirt...You might be working with a part-timer.
•10. If your agent offers you a choice of "Paper or Plastic" to carry your documents...You might be working with a part-timer.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

There is so much confusion among consumers regarding full-time, full-service agency and dabblers. I thought it might be helpful to build a knowledge base to help folks differentiate between part-timers, and full-time agents.

10 indicators that your real estate agent may be a part-timer:

•1. If your agent is driving you around to view homes, and kids run up to buy ice cream every time you stop...You might be working with a part-timer.
•2. If your Buyer's Agency Agreement has an addendum for "Additional compensation for cell phone minutes above allotment,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•3. If your agent's business card also carries mention of video rental, saw blade sharpening, Quixtar, taxidermy, or tanning beds...You might be working with a part-timer.
•4. If your agent didn't get your email because the lines at the Wake County library computers were too long...You might be working with a part-timer.
•5. If your agent rushes you through a property viewing, because "lunch hour is almost over,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•6. If your agent can get through any traffic back-up by turning on the blue light and punching the siren...You might be working with a part-timer.
•7. If your agent doesn't do evening showings on school nights,"Because Mom freaks out about homework," ....You might be working with a part-timer.
•8. If you are viewing homes and your agent pulls over to pick up a fare, "To help with the gas bill,"...You might be working with a part-timer.
•9. If your agent's HUGE ID tag is covering up "Cary Muffler Service" on his shirt...You might be working with a part-timer.
•10. If your agent offers you a choice of "Paper or Plastic" to carry your documents...You might be working with a part-timer.

Funny!
If you call a realtor and try to see a listing and they ask you to schedule for 3 or 4 days later...You might be working with a part-timer.
If they never call back, they might have left the profession to do some other work.

[chet everett]

Funny list! One of the old timers that I used to hang out with had a million of those kind of things. And the little signs like "if this is a part time why is the broker taking money out of my pocket ALL THE TIME" (the broker who owned this shop was his brother-in-law or uncle or something...

Anyhow the OP asked about PART TIME work and then went on to say that they have a job that REQUIRES 35-40 hr a week. BZZZZT wrong answer! That is a FULL TIME commitment ALREADY. I mean it'd be one thing if the other job was down around 20 hours of week, but you start doing the math on when exactly a "part timer" could squeeze in all the prospecting for listings, property searches for buyers, open houses, showings, responding to / sending email and there just are not enough hours in the day!

The situation that palmcoasting describes is/was VERY true. Staying "in the loop" to help out on on either side of transactions used to add some nice additional income. It frankly even applied to me, but lately I do not even do that unless it is for a very close friend. I would feel guilty / burn bridges with friends that are agents/brokers that DO need every bit of the few and far between commissions to keep the lights on!

I have my contacts that have helped me make money as a real estate investor, and I also have contacts that make it possible to be paid for my experience/advise. Given the highly turbulent nature of the current real estate scene I am searching for ways to capitalize on additional opportunities.

I would recommend learning about the business of real estate, but I honestly think that are MUCH better ways to switch to careers that can be much more lucrative and much less demanding of one's time.

Finally I would caution the OP that much knowledge of real estate is LOCAL and surprising NON-PORTABLE. There are fields that are MUCH more uniform from state - to -state.

Here is ONE example: Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. - Steps to Initial CFP Certification